OQ Advent Calendar
by Sandpiper
Summary: This is my entry for the 2016 OutlawQueen Advent Calendar as well as follow up chapters.
1. Encounter, Most Interesting

Regina pushed her way through the crowds with an annoyed sigh. She enjoyed shopping, but was not into the insane chaos of seasonal sales. Unfortunately for her, however, the only person she could really consider a close friend was.

Like herself, Mallory was very much into fashion, and looked like the type of person who would turn her nose up at the very idea of bargain hunting.

In fact, though, she thrived on it, so mush so that she dragged Regina all the way to Boston for clubbing the previous night and hitting up Christmas Eve sales starting early that morning. Both activities weren't Regina's cup of tea, but she'd come along to humor Mal, and, in fact, had managed to find a few items at the many stores they'd been to.

As she pushed her way through the crowd, she stopped next to the glass window of a store where the throngs of people couldn't rush her along.

Taking a moment to catch her breath, she glanced into the store. It was an outdoor sports store. A place that normally would not have interested her, however, through the glass she caught sight of a set of red flannel pajamas that brought up memories of hot apple cider, crackling fire, and warm arms surrounding her in the crisp smell of soap and faint undertones of hay.

Even a year prior the sight and resulting memories would have resulted in a dull, cold pain gripping her heart, and tears welling in her eyes.

As she stared through the glass, however, all she felt was the bittersweetness of nostalgia.

Tomorrow would be her third Christmas since Daniel died, and that the fact hurt less than it used to was both somewhat satisfying, and sad in its own way.

Picking up her shopping bags, she walked through the doorway. Stopping in front of the display rack, she stared at the flannel PJs, a small smile playing at her lips as she noted that they were exactly like the pair she remembered Daniel wearing their first Christmas after they were married.

They had long since gotten worn out and been trashed, even before he died. However, she was, without a doubt, staring at their exact replicate.

Her warm musings were interrupted abruptly by a man stepping in front of her, and pulling the hanger up off the rack.

Blinking in surprise, she whipped her head around to him, "Excuse me!"

Pausing the man met her eyes.

"That was mine," she grumbled, frowning at the now empty rack.

"Ah...," he hesitated in surprise before answering in an unexpectedly polished British accent, "I'm sorry. You were standing there for so long, I figured you hadn't decided what you wanted."

"Well..." she cleared her throat as she answered, "...I had."

"I see," he responded smirking, "I think they have the same style in green-"

"Good, then you can give that one back to me."

"I already looked. They don't have my size in green," he answered.

"I don't see how that's my problem!" she snapped, "Those are mine, give them back!"

"I'm sorry, but from what I saw these were never yours. You weren't touching them, and that is the rule right? If they're on the rack they're fair game?" he responded with a smirk that only served to further annoy her.

"Well...I need them!"

"You need these exact pajamas?" he asked doubtfully.

"Yes!" she insisted, swallowing hard, "Can you please just give them to me? Please...look, I'm sorry, okay? I apologize for snapping at you, but can I please just have those pajamas?"

"Well..." he paused to consider, "...how about we split them?"

Regina raised her eyebrow, taking a moment to decided whether he'd just said what it sounded like he had, "You're suggesting we split a pair pajamas?"

"Yes," he nodded stripping the top off the hanger, "You can take the top, and I'll take the bottoms."

"You're serious?" she asked.

"Yeah," he answered, "I usually only wear the bottoms anyway, and they'd probably be too tight on you-"

"Excuse me?!" Regina demanded.

"No...I wasn't saying...I just meant you aren't shaped like a man," he scrambled to explain, all of his polite yet sarcastic wit instantly falling away into an embarrassed expression.

Regina huffed in exasperation, "Oh forget it! You ruined it anyway."

"Ruined it?" he asked, sarcasm immediately back, "And what exactly did I ruin?"

"None of your business!" she shot back, snapping again and this time not feeling one bit guilty about it. Turning, she prepared to storm out to find Mal.

"Wait!" the man called, stepping after her, "Please, I'm sorry."

She paused at his tone of voice.

"Look, if I upset you I really do apologize," he said sincerely.

She sighed, her indignation melting into tired weariness, "It's fine."

He looked doubtful, and stepped forward to hold the hanger and pajama top out to her, "Here."

"No," she shook her head.

"Take them," he insisted, "It's just a bloody pair of pajamas, and I can see it means something to you-"

"No! Well it does, but it probably wasn't a good idea in the first place...counterproductive," as she finished her non-explanation explanation, Regina was mortified to actually find herself feeling flustered.

"Are you certain?" he asked, meeting her eyes.

She swallowed firmly before answering, "Yes."

He looked like was about to argue further, but, before he could do so, she was saved by the sound of her phone buzzing in her purse.

Setting her shoppings bags down, she quickly dug it out, giving him a 'sorry, gotta take this' look.

He nodded, stepping away to give her some space.

"Mal," she answered her phone, "Where the hell are you?"

"Getting out of Saks," Mal responded, "Where the hell are you? I turned around you were gone."

"Turned around?" Regina asked

She could practically hear Mallory's eyeroll through the phone, "Alright fine, I may have spent some time in there before I realized you were gone."

"Yeah, that sounds like you," Regina answered dryly.

"Well where are you now?" Mal asked, "I thought you were the one who wanted to get on your way back to Maine?"

"Yeah, I'd like to," she responded.

"Then were are you?"

"Well..." Regina glanced around, catching sight of the man's sandy blonde hair in line at the cash register, "...I just got side-tracked for a moment."

"Okay...whatever that means," Mal answered, "So do you want to meet at the car or are you not done getting side-tracked?"

"I'll meet you in 10 minutes," she hung up the phone with an eyeroll.

Stamping down an inexplicable urge to look back at the register, Regina scooped up her bags and made her way out of the store toward the parking garage.

* 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 *

The drive back to Storybrooke in Mal's BMW was uneventful, and, miraculously, they even managed to make it back before nightfall.

After refusing Mal's invitation to go to her place for a glass of wine that would, no doubt, turn into 10 glasses of wine, Regina found herself carrying her shopping bags up the steps to her front porch.

With a tired breath, she dropped them in the entryway and let the door slam closed behind her.

She peeled off her coat and shoes, and stored them in the hall closet. Stretching her aching feet Regina padded her way to the kitchen to fill up the kettle, and begin thinking about finding herself something to eat.

As the kettle brewed, she prepared a small plate of grapes and cheese slices. She moved the kettle off the stove as it whistled, and began brewing herself a cup of tea.

She relaxed in the livingroom with her stocking covered feet resting on the table as she ate her meal. After finishing the last sip of her tea, she washed the dishes in the kitchen sink, set them out to dry, and then returned to the entryway to retrieve her shopping bags.

Regina carried the bags up stairs to her bedroom, and began sorting through her purchases; clipping off tags and sorting out those items that needed to be washed from those labeled dry-clean only.

In one bag, beneath a purple silk blouse, she unexpectedly found a wad of familiar red and black fabric. Her lips falling open in surprise, she grabbed up the bunch of fabric. It fell open, revealing itself to be the top to the pajamas she had seen earlier at the outdoor sports store in Boston.

Glancing over, she shook her head in dismay. Reaching for the sleeve she pulled up the tag, wondering if she should trim it off or not, and found a 10 digit phone number scrawled on the white part followed by a message "If you change your mind, all you have to do is call. - Robin"

An incredulous chuckle escaped her throat, and Regina stared at the note for a moment. She chewed her bottom lip in consideration before making an abrupt decision.

She picked up her phone from where she'd tossed it on the bed earlier, and tapped in the number.

"Hello?" the same British accent she'd heard earlier answered.

"So it's Robin, huh?" she asked.

"Yes, this is Robin," he answered through the phone.

Regina smirked at hearing the slight confusion in his voice.

"You don't know who I am?" she asked, "Does that mean you gave out your phone number a lot today?"

There was a brief moment of quiet before a soft chuckle echoed on the other end of the call.

"Not at all," he answered, "And, yes, Robin Locksley at your service. Did you decide you wanted the rest of the pajamas?"

Regina's lips quirked, "Well that depends...will I be risking arrest for receipt of stolen property if I take them?"

He laughed, "No, I paid for the set. The cashier thought it was strange that I didn't want him to find me set that wasn't missing the top, but I still paid full price so you shouldn't have anything to worry about."

"I see," she answered, "So you're not a thief?"

Another laugh was his only response, "I didn't catch your name, by the way."

"I don't recall giving it," she answered.

"You didn't," he acknowledged, "I just said that to try to get you to do so."

A smile spread across her lips in spite of herself, "Oh is that so?"

"Yes," he answered.

She could hear the expectant tone in his voice, which is exactly why she merely hummed in response.

"So how exactly did you sneak the top into my bags? I only set them down for a second."

He paused before answering, "If you're going to keep your secrets it's only fair I get to keep mine."

Regina sighed, "Has anyone ever told you you're a very aggravating man?"

He barked a laugh in response, "I may have heard that a few times."

"I'm so shocked," she deadpanned.

After a moment of surprisingly comfortable silence, she finally said, "Regina."

"Pardon?"

"My name," she clarified, "It's Regina."

"Regina," he repeated softly, "A pleasure meet you."

This time she didn't even notice the smile stretching her lips.

"So have you decided you want the pajamas after all?" he asked again.

She chuckled, "I don't know. Have you already worn them?"

Pulling the phone away from her ear, Regina winced, wanting to slap herself for saying that.

The pause on the other end of the phone told her that he had caught the accidental implications of the question, but apparently decided not to make anything of him as he simply answered, "No, of course not."

"Well," Regina answered seriously, "It's very nice of you to offer, but you did pay for them. If anything I should be offering to give the top back to you."

"No," he responded, "Don't worry about it. Unless, of course, you fancy driving up to Maine just to return an, admittedly somewhat inappropriate, gift?"

"Maine?" Regina asked.

"Yes," he answered, "I'm actually not from Boston. I'd was just out that day doing some shopping after might flight got in."

"You live in Maine?" she repeated.

"Yes," he laughed, "There are a few of us that do."

"I...I know," Regina answered, "What part?"

"Well," she heard some rustling through the phone that sounded like shifting upholstery, "I don't really live in a city, per se. I have a cabin in the woods along the central coast."

"Are..." she paused shaking hear head, "...you aren't anywhere near Storybrooke are you?"

He paused for a long moment before asking, "How did you know that?"

"You are?" she said incredulously.

"Storybrooke is the nearest town to the north. I think there might be one a little closer to the south but...Regina how did you know that?"

"I didn't," Regina told him, "I only asked because...I live in Storybrooke."

"You do?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Truly?"

"I'm the mayor, in fact," she answered.

"You're the mayor of Storybrooke?" he asked, amusement evident in his voice.

"Look it up if you don't believe me."

"I believe you," he responded, "This just quite a coincidence."

"Yes, it is," Regina couldn't help but laugh slightly as she acknowledged the fact out loud.

"Perhaps..."

"Yes?" she prompted.

"A few friends of mine live in Storybrooke, so I visit on occasion," he said pausing before going on, "I might be town fairly soon...perhaps you'd like to have lunch sometime?"

Regina sat silently before finally taking a deep breath and answering, "That might be nice."

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Well, you know...maybe," Regina answered.

"Maybe?" Robin asked.

"Maybe," she repeated.

"Alright," he finally answered, "maybe it is."

Grinning she responded, "Goodnight...Robin."

"Goodnight, Regina."

Regina slowly lowered the phone from her ear, and ended the call. Staring at her phone she bit down on her lip, and thought back over that what have proven to be a most interesting encounter...most interesting indeed.


	2. RSVP

"There you go, sweetheart," Regina smiled as she handed a wrapped present to what was possibly the cutest little girl she'd ever laid eyes on.

"Thank you," she answered shyly before quickly making her way back to her parents.

"Hang on, sweetie," Ruby Lucas stopped her to take a picture. As the group began to filter out, the young woman came over, the bells at the end of her curly shoes jangling.

"I have to keep reminding the parents to leave an email address or phone number of they want their kids' pictures," she muttered.

"Yeah, well, count yourself lucky that's your big problem, sister," Leroy grumbled from his seat on Santa's throne, "I've been dealing with tiny, sticky hands all evening!"

"Humph!" Mrs. Lucas scoffed from behind the chair, "From what I've seen of you these past years in my diner you know all about small, dirty hands."

Leroy glared at her over his fake beard, "If you were my actual wife I'd have some things to say about that implication!"

"Yeah, like you'd have the guts!" Mrs. Lucas shot back.

Leroy glared again, but didn't dispute that accusation. Mrs. Lucas smirked in her victory while her granddaughter blushed brighter even than her elf makeup.

Regina sighed heavily. She knew that putting Leroy and Lucas together in this event was a mistake, but they had volunteered, and, Granny Lucas's glasses and silver bouffant made her the perfect Mrs. Claus.

"This is the last group, can we please just professional?" she hissed.

The sound of children's voices approached as the nuns from the local church, and its childrens' home, lead the youngsters in their care up the street toward the 'Santa's Village' set. Regina was thankful to not that the delighted cries of a group of homeless children were enough to silence even Storybrooke's two loudest residents.

Plastering a smile on her face she moved down the red carpet to invite the children to line up to receive a Christmas present.

* 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 *

Two hours later Regina stormed through the polished entryway of City Hall of her office, her annoyance brewing into a pounding headache behind her eyes.

Just as she turned toward her office the hell of her stiletto heel caught a puddle of water from melted snow, causing her leg to slide at a very unnatural angle and nearly send her crashing to the floor.

Cursing she caught herself with her mitten covered hands, and attempted the nearly impossible task of righting herself in a somewhat dignified manner.

"Whoa!" a voice yelled from behind her, as shoes echoed across the marble, and a pair of hands helped pull her upright again, "Regina, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine!" she snapped, "No thanks to the cleaning crew! Is City Hall suffering a mop shortage?"

"I'm sorry," her assistant, Lily, answered, "The crew made their final sweep about 15 minutes ago, but with the storm...I'll have them go over the floors again before they leave for the holiday."

"No, no," Regina shook her head, guilt niggling her mind, "Just...make sure they put up caution signs. We don't want anyone getting hurt."

"Of course," Lily answered, glancing pensively at Regina's shoes, "This storm is supposed to get a lot worse tonight, though. Tell me you at least brought your snow boots."

"Of course I did!" Regina answered in annoyance as she hung up her hat and coat.

"Okay," the younger woman held up her hands defensively, "So how was Santa's Village?"

She shrugged, "We managed to hold it together in the end, though not without Granny Lucas and Leroy fighting half the time. Is it too much to ask for people to just act decent at Christmas?"

Lily chuckled, "Well, on that subject, Mom wanted me to ask you again if you'd like to join in her Christmas bash tomorrow?"

Regina sighed once again as she sat down at her desk. She knew that Mal meant well, but she was being overly persistent and really making a big deal out of something that wasn't. This month, actually this entire year, had been insane, and she was looking forward to being able to lock herself away in the peace and privacy of her own home for 24 hours.

"I already told your mother, I'm not planning to attend any holiday parties or anything like that. I'm spending Christmas by myself this year."

Lily raised a skeptical eyebrow, "You know for years I was the black sheep of my family, and this whole town, but even I think that sounds lonely."

Regina glared at her.

"But, hey, I try not to judge," she instantly changed her tone, "Of course, Mom…"

"I appreciate Mal's…concern," she chose her words very carefully, "But we've had this conversation before, your mother's holiday dinner is just going to turn into an excuse for her and her friends to re-live their college days, and, while I'm not judging them either, I just don't have the energy for it."

"Yeah, well, can't say I blame you there," Lily commented ruefully, "Cruella's even coming this year. Apparently she just split with her fifth husband. If they don't burn the place down, I'll count it as a win."

Regina actually quirked a smile for the first time that night, "Well I wish you luck with that."

"Thanks," Lily answered, not bothering to hide the sarcasm in her tone, "Did you need anything else tonight-"

Regina waved her off, "Go!"

"Oh," she answered, "Okay, well, Merry Christmas"

"You as well," Regina answered absently as she pulled up her email browser on her computer. There was still a depressing amount of work yet to be done. It always seemed like she could never get caught up before more came, but tonight she was determined. The government was closed between Christmas and New Year's Day, barring any emergency, and she was determined to get everything done before leaving tonight, so that she could spend what little was left of this year catching her breath.

Overall, it took nearly two hours of diligent work, but she finally signed the last from requiring her signature and set it in the outgoing mail box, and hit 'send' on the last email required.

With that, Regina leaned back in her desk chair and stretched. By then the headache that started earlier at Santa's Village had not gone away, instead her neck and back had decided to join in.

Laughing to herself about the joys of getting older, Regina powered down her computer, and began bundling up in her winter clothes. Lily had been right about the storm getting worse, she could see heavy snow falling outside her windows.

With her boots were tied, her stilettos safely stored in her handbag, and her mittens on Regina flipped off the lights, and made her way through the foyer.

The wind outside nearly ripped the door of it's hinges, forcing her to push hard to close it.

Pushing her scarf up to cover her mouth from the biting ice crystals hitting her lips, Regina glanced at her car in the parking lot. It was nearly completely covered with snow, and she could see that the nearby roads had not been plowed. She from an earlier conversation with the Department of Transportation that the main roads, at least, would tomorrow morning...that is after she'd agreed to sign off on holiday pay for the divers.

Snuggling more deeply into her coat, she took a deep breath and began trekking through the quickly deepening snow toward her home.

The walk, which would normally take 20 minutes max, took her nearly an hour. By the time she got there her nylons were soaked completely through, and she was shivering.

After quickly shedding her winter gear, and putting it away in the coat closet she made a detour up to her bedroom to change into dry clothes.

As she made her way down the stairs, Regina stopped in the livingroom to take a breath.

Finally! Solitude.

Glancing around she noted that the rooms were very dark and cold...lonely.

No! This was what she'd wanted. She finally had a moment to herself, and dark and cold could easily be remedied!

Unconsciously wrapping her arms around herself, she made her way over to the fireplace to switch on the gas and get a fire going. She also stopped to plug in the lights. She'd forgone a Christmas tree this year, since she wasn't in much of a celebrating mood, but hadn't been able to resist a string of fairy lights across the mantle.

As the twinkling dots and flames filled the room with soft light, she took a satisfied breath. That was better. This was what she'd wanted...respite from the craziness of this year.

* 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 *

 **February**

Regina frowned as she scrubbed her hands in the sink of her private washroom, and told herself that she was just washing her hands. She wasn't checking her appearance. She was doing nothing of the sort...and even if she was it was just because she was the mayor. It was important that she look put together, and professional.

Yes, that was it.

That was also why she'd opted for her favorite red dress today. It was her favorite for a reason; because it was a nice dress. Stylish yet understated. Very professional...yes, professional.

Huffing in annoyance, she shut off the tap and shook the excess water from her hands. Glancing back at the mirror she shook her head at herself. She was being ridiculous. Honestly, this wasn't even her first date since Daniel died.

Not that this was for officially date.

She was just having lunch with someone she met by accident who seemed like a nice person. Heck, he'd probably even bring along the friend he'd mentioned he was going to be visiting today.

Definitely no reason to assume he thought it was a date. It wasn't as if it was Valentine's Day or anything...that was a week away.

A knock on the door startled her.

"Regina?" Lily called through the polished wood.

Taking a deep breath against her racing heart, Regina called back, "What?!"

"Dr. Whale is calling. He says he needs to speak with you."

She grabbed a paper towel and dried her hands, "Tell him I'll call him back."

The last thing she needed right now was to deal with the pompous Chief of Medicine.

"He says it's an emergency."

Sighing heavily she tossed the crumpled up paper towel in the trashcan, and opened the door.

Storming over to her desk she lifted the receiver off its cradle and pressed the button to connect, "Whale, what can I do for you?"

"Regina, yeah, listen I had few cases the last few weeks of what appeared to be West Nile Virus…"

"West Nile Virus?" she demanded, "At this time of year? It's barely February, Whale, when is the last time you saw a mosquito?"

"I agree," Whale answered, "However, all the signs were there so I sent samples off for testing. Well they came back positive, and now I have someone from the Health Department on the phone informing me that a team of investigators is on their way, and they want to speak to someone in charge about logistics."

"So speak to them," she ordered, "You're Storybrooke's public health official, Whale."

"I have an entire hospital to run! I don't have time to coordinate with the feds."

Regina rolled her eyes. Just like Whale to try to pass along responsibility whenever he could, and it isn't as if she had entire town to run.

"Alright, fine," she grumbled, "Tell them to call me and we can-"

"They want to speak with someone now."

She gritted her teeth and answered, "Fine, put them through to my office phone."

"Thank you, Madam Mayor," Whale answered, "Hold on just a second, I'll have my secretary transfer them through."

As she waited for the call to come through she glanced at her watch. She was supposed to leave in 10 minutes.

Well...at least she didn't have to worry about whether or not this was a date anymore.

TBC...


End file.
